The Hi everyone. Welcome to Iroquois History and Legends. This is Andrew. And this is Caleb.

And welcome to our fourth installment of Haudi Nishone Legends. That is correct, Andrew. We are a little less than a week away from

Christmas. I love Christmas. So do I. Now, we don't have any Christmas stories to tell you, but we

thought we'd do something with kind of a winter theme. So, Andrew, have you ever wondered why a

Christmas tree keeps us needles all year long?

I have, and I guess I could look into it. I'm sure there's some reason.

This here is a traditional Seneca story telling why conifer trees stay green all year long,

and other trees lose their leaves. Enjoy.

Old Man Winter and the Frost Demons

Long ago when the Earth was still young

and the great creator was still working hard to make the world a happy place to live

for all his creatures and trees.

Now, in the old times, it's important to note that man was not all that could speak.

We know from the past that the animals could talk to one another, but so also could the trees.

Now for a long time the trees and animals lived happily and in peace.

That was until the evil one, jealous of what the Creator had made, sent his dark spirits

and monsters into the world.

Now the most evil of all the demons was Old Man Winter, the Frost demon, and the whirlwind.

These evil spirits had the power to take life from all they touched,

turning the warm blood given by the creator to cold ice,

and also to rip life and leaves from the trees

as long as they felt the demons embrace.

...